Major Gaps in Public Handwashing Facilities

The newly released 2026 Clean Hands Index suggests the next opportunity for the cleaning and facility management profession may not be cleaner restrooms—but a broader understanding of handwashing performance.

Drawing on more than 350 independently evaluated public handwashing experiences, responses from more than 2,800 stakeholders, and a dedicated cleaning and facility management survey, the research found that most organizations actively measure restroom operations, yet few evaluate whether the overall handwashing experience enables visitors to complete a hygienic handwash from soap through exit.

Cleaning and facility professionals reported routinely tracking operational measures such as soap usage, paper towel usage, cleaning frequency, maintenance calls, and user complaints. Those metrics help manage restroom operations but do not directly measure whether the public can successfully complete a hygienic handwash.

“For decades, restroom performance has been evaluated through operational measures such as cleanliness, supplies, and maintenance,” said Tim Cromley, founder of Clean Hands Certified and publisher of the Clean Hands Index. “The next evolution may be understanding not only whether restrooms are clean, but whether they consistently enable people to complete a hygienic handwash.”

The research found that cleaning professionals already recognize the operational value of better restroom design. Nearly 70% of respondents agreed that better handwashing design reduces cleaning time and complaints, indicating broad recognition that restroom design directly influences operational performance.

At the same time, respondents identified significant barriers to improvement. Budget constraints were cited most frequently, followed by maintenance concerns, infrastructure limitations, leadership priorities, and fixture reliability concerns. Notably, only 1.6% identified limited product knowledge as a barrier, suggesting the challenge is less about awareness than implementation and investment.

The survey also highlighted the operational issues cleaning professionals face most often. Messy sinks and counters ranked as the most common recurring problem, followed by empty towel dispensers, empty soap dispensers, and malfunctioning fixtures. These highly visible conditions influence how visitors perceive restroom quality, even when broader cleaning routines are consistently performed.

The findings align with field observations from the Clean Hands Index, which found that only 7.1% of independently evaluated public handwashing experiences supported all five criteria required for a complete hygienic handwash.

“The public experiences the restroom as one system,” Cromley said. “They don’t separate soap dispensers from faucets, towels, or exit doors. They simply know whether they were able to wash their hands hygienically. That outcome is influenced by design, maintenance, operations, and organizational priorities working together.”

Rather than suggesting that cleaning teams are responsible for every aspect of the handwashing experience, the report concludes that successful public handwashing requires collaboration among facility managers, custodial teams, architects, engineers, manufacturers, distributors, and organizational leadership.